With A Little Luck, We Might Just Get Stuck
by raisintorte
Summary: Sam and Daniel wouldn't change a thing about their jobs. Not that universal bonus points wouldn't be a nice touch, though. Sam/Daniel, Spoilers through Insiders.


**Pairing:** Sam/Daniel  
**Spoilers:** Through Insiders.  
**A/N:** Written for **traycer** in the **sdficathon**. Thanks to **smittywing** for helping me plot, and betaing (or beating as I sometimes need), **wojelah** for being on flail duty, and **daisycm83** for being a good friend and betaing.

* * *

"After ten years, we really shouldn't be getting ourselves into these situations anymore. Especially on Earth. I mean, you think we would see the signs and know what to avoid," Sam huffed as she reached down and helped pull Daniel up the last few rungs of the ladder. They had split off fromTeal'c, Cam, and Vala earlier in the day, so it was just the two of them. If Vala had been with them, Sam was sure the mob chasing them would have been bigger.

"Oh, I know. Really. After 10 years of chasing bad guys around the universe I'm getting a little too old - and a little too creaky - to be hiding in barn lofts. My knees hurt." Daniel sat on the ground and leaned up against the loft wall. He made room in front of him so she sat on the ground between his knees and leaned against his chest.

"When did we get old?"

Daniel snorted a bit at her question. "Around the same time we beat the Goa'uld and the Replicators."

"Yeah." Sam leaned her head back into Daniel's warmth. The barn was drafty and Sam was cold, and damp. They'd had an accidental foray into a river earlier in the day and both she and Daniel had gotten wet. It was warm enough outside that they had both dried off a bit before finding the barn, but not enough to keep off the chill. Daniel wrapped his arms loosely around her and rested his hands on her knees.

She tried to think back to how many times they had previously been in this position over the last ten years, which was . . . probably way too many to count. At least this time they were both in one piece, ten fingers, ten toes, no holes, no burns – and the people chasing them would probably give up soon.

Sam hadn't realized how lost she was in her own thoughts until she felt Daniel tapping his finger on her nose. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Nothing. Everything." Sam paused for a moment and shook her head, "This situation, us, why _we_ got sent on this fool's errand instead of some other team. Haven't we tracked down enough Ba'al clones for this lifetime?

"Huh." Daniel said, "Well, I think Landry thought we could use a break from gallivanting around the universe to gallivant around earth?" Daniel didn't sound very sure of that at all.

"Some 'break' this turned out to be." Sam knew Landry meant well, but traipsing around middle America was not her idea of a vacation.

Daniel rested his chin on the top of Sam's head. "We do end up in a pickle a lot, don't we?"

"Yeah. I would call it bad luck, but I don't think luck has anything to do with it." Sam fumed, offended by their collective karma, "You would think at some point if luck did have anything to do with it, maybe it would occasionally swing in our favor? You know, like universal bonus points."

"Yes, I can just see it now. Dear Doctor Jackson, the universe has noticed you've had an unprecedented run of bad luck lately. We are _so_ sorry it slipped through our monitoring system. Please except our sincerest apologies and 500 bonus points, redeemable for good luck at anytime."

Sam didn't need to look up at Daniel's face to know its expression - a wry smile, a tilt of the head, maybe a little eyebrow action at the end.

"500? That's it? I would think we should have accumulated way more than 500 points." Sam closed her eyes and curled further into Daniel, in an almost subconscious gesture.

"The universe is a bit stingy if you haven't noticed." Daniel pulled his arms just a bit tighter, just enough for Sam to notice. It felt good.

"Yeah. So, how long do you think we have to stay here before the pitchfork-wielding farm folk dissipate and we can get the hell out of Dodge?" Sam was cold and tired and _seriously_ over hiding out. She liked warm beds with clean sheets. Daniel made a most excellent pillow and really, being curled up with him was no hardship; she just wished it was under slightly more amenable circumstances.

"Probably a few more hours - we can't risk going back into town to get to a payphone, if there even is one," Daniel squeezed her knee and let go, raising his hand to play in her hair, twirling little bits around his finger. "Besides, Teal'c, Vala, and Cam have the car. They'll probably show up eventually when we don't call in."

"Landry is not going to be happy when we have to requisition two new cell phones." Sam reached up and caught Daniel's hand - she was sleepy, and the calm repetition of his fingers in her hair wasn't helping her stay awake. They _needed_ to stay awake in case the mob came back.

Daniel pulled their hands down to her knees and kept his hand wrapped around hers. "Well, next time you'll just have make sure they're waterproof."

"Stupid falling in a river." She must have sounded more petulant than she intended, because Daniel snorted and started laughing.

"Falling in the river wasn't stupid - that was helping us escape. My mistaking the local sheriff for Ba'al? That was a bit stupid."

Now it was Sam's turn to laugh. "You won't hear much argument from me on that one!"

"In my defense - he looked _just_ like Ba'al." Daniel said, indignantly.

The sheriff had looked nothing like Ba'al. He had been wearing a stained uniform with a few missing buttons. He also had a rather large beer belly. "No, he looked like what Ba'al might look like if Ba'al was 10 years older and 40 pounds heavier."

"It could have been a clever disguise."

"This is _Ba'al_! If he was going to disguise himself, it would not be a slightly over-weight middle-aged sheriff! Ba'al is the text book definition of vain."

"Now we know. And knowing is half the battle."

"Cute. What did you say that got his ire up so much? I mean we went from calmly 'questioning the locals' to a bar fight! "

"I made have said some uncomplimentary things about his parentage," Daniel said a little sheepishly, "and I maybe referenced a point in mythology where he might have mated with a cow."

"Why, why, _why_, would you do that?" Their mad dash from the very angry locals trying to lynch Daniel suddenly made more sense.

"I don't know! I was trash-talking what I _thought_ was a Goa'uld clone. He's taunted us so many times - I just wanted to get a few shots back at him. How was I supposed to know that he wasn't actually a Goa'uld and those were all his brothers around him?"

"Right. Of course you pick now to use a page from the Jack O'Neill playbook of Goa'uld-human relations." Sam shook her head a bit and laughed.

"I kinda did, didn't I? Well, I'm sorry we're in this situation."

"It's okay, Daniel - worse things have happened." Sam uncurled her legs and stretched them out.

"Yeah, well, to us more often than not." Daniel stretched his legs at either side of Sam's and moved his hands to her sides.

Sam grabbed Daniel's hands and squeezed, "I'm just glad we both know how to run fast."

"I'm sorry about the river."

"Daniel, it's okay! Stop apologizing. We got into trouble, we ran, we fell in a river, now we're hiding in a barn. Not the first time, won't be the last." Sam rubbed her fingers over Daniels. She loved his hands, they weren't soft - years of archeology followed by being on SG-1 had given him bumps and callouses and she was running her fingers over all of them.

They sat there in companionable silence for awhile, holding hands, rubbing fingers and just being together. That was one of the things she loved about Daniel - they didn't have to be talking or keeping each other busy - they were good just being them.

After awhile she felt Daniel stir a bit. "Didn't you think we would be done with this by now? Doing other things - research, science. I really thought we would be done at this point."

"Yeah, I did. I didn't miss it all when I was away, but on the other hand, I don't regret coming back." Sam tilted her head back so she could look Daniel in the eyes.

"I don't think we could do this job if we kept having regrets. Not that I don't regret things we've done or not done - it's just the big stuff I don't like to second guess." He shook his head a bit ruefully.

"I know. I think I hate this job as much as I love it, but I can't imagine doing anything else."

"Me either," Daniel paused for a second and looked into her eyes. "When was the last time we talked like this - just you and me, really talking?"

"It's been a long time - too long. I've missed this."

"Me too." Daniel put his hand on the side of her face and stroked her cheek with his fingers. He leaned down and lightly touched his lips to hers.

They had kissed before, little pecks, kisses when they almost died, a few lingering kisses when they came even closer to dying, but it had never felt like this before. This felt sweet and real and it wasn't just in the aftermath of a huge emotional event. This was just the two of them, sitting in a loft, talking about the experiences that had bonded them together for life.

She turned so she could wrap her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

After a few moments, Sam pulled away from the kiss, rested her head on Daniel's chest, and closed her eyes. She was about to lean back for another kiss when she let out a huge yawn. She moved her hand up stifle it. "Sorry, I'm just getting so sleepy."

"Go to sleep - I'll take this watch. It'll be dark soon and we can sneak back into town and call for assistance."

"Thanks." Sam tucked her legs under her and curled up into Daniel's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Sam woke to footsteps in the entrance to the barn. She felt Daniel stiffen and reach for his gun. They breathed a mutual sigh of relief when they heard Teal'c's voice. "Colonel Carter, Doctor Jackson, are you up there?"

"Yes, Teal'c! We'll be right down," Daniel shouted in response. Sam started to stand up but her legs were a bit wobbly from being still so long. Daniel caught her and helped her stand. He wrapped his arms around and her, pulled her into a tight hug, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He leaned down and whispered, "Ready to go?"

"Yes." She followed him across the loft to the hanging ladder and they climbed down. Teal'c stood in the middle of the barn, gun drawn.

"Colonel Mitchell and I were unable to find any trace of Ba'al in our half of town. When you did not call in, we had General Landry trace your signals here. Are you well?"

"Yup Teal'c. We're fine. Just another misunderstanding with the locals. Where are Cam and Vala?"

"Vala is waiting for our arrival at the truck stop. She got into a 'disagreement' with the owner. She is now washing dishes so that he will not call the local authorities. We are picking her up on the way out of town. Colonel Mitchell is waiting in the car. A goat absconded with his pants."

"Of course." Daniel shook his head and put his arm around Sam.

Sam leaned in close to Daniel and whispered in his ear, "I bet Cam would use his universal bonus points to keep his pants."

Daniel leaned over and kissed her forehead, grinning. "And Vala would use hers as a universal get out of jail free card."

They followed Teal'c out of the barn to the waiting car, laughing all the way. There really was nothing else like the life they lived.

* * *


End file.
